USAC THURSDAY NIGHT THUNDER RETURNS TO O'REILLY RACEWAY PARK

INDIANAPOLIS (Dec. 10, 2010) O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis and United States Auto Club (USAC) officials have announced that USAC Thursday Night Thunder will return to the lightning fast oval during the course of the 2011 season. The series will run monthly from May through October and will feature the USAC Sprint Car Series exclusively. The announcement was made at the Performance Racing Industry Trade Show in Orlando.

USAC Thursday Night Thunder is an iconic franchise in the history of open wheel racing and in the mid-1990’s was a ‘can’t miss’ event for racers and race fans across the Midwest. Current racing legends such as Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, and Ryan Newman got their start racing at O’Reilly Raceway Park during USAC Thursday Night Thunder events. When Thursday Night Thunder returns it can be assured that once again fans in attendance will be seeing the future of racing at O’Reilly Raceway Park.

“Fans of open wheel racing have long requested that USAC Thursday Night Thunder return to the O’Reilly Raceway Park schedule of events,” said Kurt Johnson, director of racing and operations at O’Reilly Raceway Park. “As home to 292 USAC races since 1961 we believe these races will be a tremendous addition to the 2011 oval schedule and will allow fans to take in great racing during the course of the summer.”

The Thursday Night Thunder races will be May 12, June 16, July 7, August 18, Sept. 8, and Oct. 13.

“O’Reilly Raceway Park has always held a special meaning for me and for USAC’s legion of racing fans,” says USAC Competition Director Jason McCord. “I’m pleased we are able to renew the USAC Thursday Night Thunder concept and we can expect some great Sprint car competition. Two of my Sprint wins were at O’Reilly Raceway Park and my only Silver Crown victory came at the facility so from a driver’s perspective it’s a great place to race.”

The 2011 oval schedule will be full of exciting and thrilling events with the addition of the USAC Thursday Night Thunder series and the recent announcement of ARCA to the Kroger SpeedFest lineup in July.

“The O’Reilly Raceway Park oval has long been a proving ground to veteran and young racers alike. Bringing back USAC Thursday Night Thunder will be a major step in providing a full schedule of events to the patrons of the track,” continued Johnson.